


oh baby I can't even explain

by muchmoremajestic



Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game), Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: 5+1 Things, College AU, Fluff, Getting Together, Light Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Misunderstanding, Mutual Pining, POV Steve Rogers, POV Tony Stark, Pining Steve Rogers, Pining Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21976516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muchmoremajestic/pseuds/muchmoremajestic
Summary: Prompt: Steve and Tony dance around each other, wanting to ask each other out on a first date, but things keep getting in the way from the random invasions on campus to each of them being nervous/getting in their own way.Or: The five times Steve and Tony tried to ask each other out, and the one time they finally got it together.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Janet Van Dyne
Comments: 10
Kudos: 126
Collections: 2019 Captain America/Iron Man Holiday Exchange





	1. I Get Nervous Every Time You Speak

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Neverever](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/gifts).



> For the Holiday Exchange! 
> 
> The main title and chapter titles are inspired by the song "Can You Tell" by Ra Ra Riot. I've included a playlist [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4KbCJMfc8fiQWfkUCuOAM9?si=4zpkogySR-2LlEoYhOWARw).
> 
> Happy holidays!

“Just tell him,” Jan said, taking a piece of popcorn from the bowl Tony had placed on the floor between her and Rhodey.

“But _how_?”

“With words, Tony. ‘Steve, I like you. Can I take you out for a night?’ How hard is that?”

“ _Impossible, Jan._ ” Tony flopped facedown on his bed. His growing crush on Steve had been getting worse over the past few months; by this point, it just felt like a weight in his whole chest.

“It’s just a date, Tony. It’s not like you’re asking Steve to marry you,” Rhodey added, reaching over to grab a handful of popcorn and throwing one piece at Tony.

Tony groaned loudly. The worst part was, this actually _was_ an improvement - it truly was better to vent to Jan and Rhodey about how much he truly liked Steve. Better than the year or so of vehement denial where Tony refused to even admit he had feelings for Steve, and a million times better than before he had confided to them that he was into guys at all. 

But the “Steve conversation” was one that they had all the time. Tony, who in the past had zero issue flirting with girls - some might say even a reputation for being suave - couldn’t seem to get it together to ask out Steve. 

Tony heard it all - “don’t be scared!”, “he’s nice!”, “he’s sweet!” - but that didn’t change how strongly Tony felt about Steve, and how scared it made him to feel that way. 

The truth is Tony _had_ tried to ask Steve out. Three times, already. And each attempt had gone wrong.   
  


* * *

**One.**

The first time was three months ago, at the start of the new term when Tony thought he had finally gathered up the courage to ask Steve out on a date after their winter break. He had thought a lot about how he’d ask, but as Jan had reminded him, Tony had asked dozens of people out before, so why should this be any different? 

Tony wandered around campus, looking for Steve. He passed by students going back and forth between classes, others practicing aiming techniques and fighting stances. He moved past the construction zone near the gate of the school, where he saw Pepper observing and taking notes. 

“Morning, Pepper! What’s going on here?”

“Oh, nothing much. Director Fury is putting in a new security system for the school.”

“Security system? But he’s got me, what more of a security system does he need?” Tony asked with a wink. 

Pepper laughed. “Well, as many times as you and your teammates have ‘protected’ the school by reducing parts of it to rubble, Director Fury wanted to add additional defenses. New technology, reinforced walls. That kind of stuff.”

“Well, I’m sure me and my teammates will find a way to make some more rubble despite Fury’s additions. Speaking of my teammates, have you seen Steve? I wanted to talk to him.” 

“I’m sure you all will. And I haven’t seen him but I think I remember seeing a training session of his reserved for the obstacle course around now. Maybe check there?” 

“Thanks, Pep!” Tony said, smiling as he walked away. “Oh, and Pepper?”

“Yes, Tony?”

“Seriously, if Fury wants me to go over this new tech and check for bugs, I’ll do it. I don’t know where he’s getting his stuff from but mine is probably better.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Tony.”

He strolled over to the obstacle course, where Steve could sometimes be found helping other students with their conditioning training. It was clear today’s session was almost over, given that Sam and Bucky were horsing around to the side as Steve was on the monkey bars, swinging back and forth playfully between the bars. 

Not in his usual outfit, Steve’s workout clothes consisted of a long-sleeved academy t-shirt and gray sweatpants. Tony, already mesmerized at the sight before him, watched as Steve’s shirt rode up slightly as he hung from the bars, revealing a nice bit of skin. Tony began to feel warm and fluttery as he stared at Steve - staring was the right word, at this point - until Steve turned around and caught Tony looking.

When Steve saw Tony, he started beaming and jumped off the bars, landing in front of Tony who jumped back a step. 

“Hiya, Tony! What brings you out here?” Steve asked.

Between Steve’s look, his bright smile, the way the workout had made his hair messy, how cuddly he looked in the sweatpants and how nice it was when Steve’s shirt rode up, Tony was totally thrown. Completely flustered, the confident Tony that had just strolled right to the obstacle course immediately vanished. Tony was frozen like a deer in headlights, and panicked. 

“Oh, uh, you know, just passing through! Bye!” he said, and Tony, convinced he must be the same shade of red as his armor, turned and ran back in the direction he came from, leaving an incredibly confused Steve behind. 

“What the hell was that?” Tony heard Sam say as he turned the corner and sprinted back to Stark Tower. 

He didn’t stop until he burst through the door of his bedroom. He dropped to the floor, curled up against his bed and texted Jan, trying to catch his breath.

< _Jan please end my suffering_

> _What did you do now_

Tony explained.

> _Wow_. 

That was all Jan could respond. Tony tried his best to avoid Steve whenever he could for the next week or so. 

**Two.**

The second time, it had been during one of their frequently occurring study sessions. This term, they were both in a class that covered adapting technology on the battlefield. Professor Pym had been adamant about assigning group projects this semester and paired Tony and Steve together, going in alphabetical order.

So once a week, Steve met Tony at Stark Tower to go over that week’s lesson and to start planning their final project, which would be a take on adaptable armor that would meet in the middle between the protective but flexible nature of Steve’s uniform and the durable and powerful nature of Tony’s. 

Steve had drafted their pitch for the project. “ _Needs on the battlefield quickly change. Suits of armor can provide fantastic protection and offensive power, but may not be advisable for use for the entirety of a mission_ -”

“Hey!” Tony interrupted. 

Steve snorted, continuing to read. “- _Due to the nature of the material and weight of battle suits, their intimidating presence -”_

“That’s better.”

_“- And the_ dynamic _personalities generally attracted to the use of these types of armor,”_ Steve read aloud, looking at Tony with a slight smirk. “ _The use of a battle suit may not be appropriate for all soldiers or agents, or for every circumstance of a given mission. Generally, stealth missions require a higher degree of discretion_ , _but often lead agents, operatives and/or soldiers without the power and protection needed at a moment’s notice. Our plan is to construct an adaptable suit of armor that is portable, discreet, and still contains some of the offensive features of larger, more established suits of armor to fill this need_.”

The sessions were fun, and in hindsight, probably the catalyst for Tony’s crush getting worse. Spending alone time with Steve just confirmed that he was as much as a cute dork that Tony thought he was. Hours spent debating designs, watching Steve make sketches, pouring through history books from the Timeless Archives, examining models of armor from the past, Tony tinkering with wires - a lot of time spent in close quarters alone. 

For Tony, it meant pressure. The pressure to keep cool, not be a nervous wreck, to answer Steve’s questions and be present for their work - not daydreaming about how nice it’d be to be cuddled on the couch together as Steve stroked Tony’s hair.

For Steve, it was a chance to learn and have fun. He’d ask Tony questions about building armor, soldering techniques, and how to program such powerful weapons into such tiny spaces. And an opportunity to just be a little silly - Steve would sing along to whatever song Tony happened to be playing at the time, or making up lyrics. He’d dance around in the prototypes of armor to show off how easy it was to move in it. 

“You know Tony, you joke but shouldn’t that be a good test? I mean if you could actually do the Charleston while wearing armor the armor would HAVE to be pretty darn flexible, right?” Steve asked, examining one of the pieces of the chest plate.

“You’re gonna make us dance in front of the whole class, aren’t you?” Tony asked, in a jokingly exasperated tone. 

“I wouldn’t worry, Tony. I’ve seen your moves at Club A. I think you’d do great,” Steve said, his focus buried in fitting armor plates together so he couldn’t see the new large blush across Tony’s cheeks. Seeing his opening, Tony took a deep breath and began to ask.

“You know, speaking of Club A, would you wanna grab -”

Suddenly, an alarm chirped out across Stark Tower. Tony and Steve both jumped up and raced to the window. Down near the quad, they could see Clint and Scott tinkering with one of the Stark Robots - Scott playing with the wiring as Clint tried to fit a football into the robot’s right hand.

“What are they doing?” Steve asked, confused.

Tony skipped over confusion and went straight to anger. “What the hell - _why are Scott and Clint messing with my robots?!_ ” 

Tony immediately jumped up and ran outside, too angry in the moment to finish asking Steve on a date. After several minutes of yelling - something along the lines of “ _you’re ruining perfection_ ” and “ _I know you can build your own damn robot, Scott_ ” - Tony returned to the Tower, with a robot to repair, as Steve was packing up his stuff. 

“Aww, sorry Tony. I’d offer to stay and help, but I’ve got a training session with Ares I have to prepare for. He asked if I could help demonstrate some tactics to first-year students. Same time next week?”

“Yeah, works for me,” Tony grumbled, continuing to drag the robot toward his lab. 

It hadn’t occurred to him until he was lying awake that night that he never finished asking Steve out.

**Three.**

The third time Tony tried? Well, that had been the worst. Tony had been laying with Jan in the grass on the quad a couple of weeks later, enjoying a quiet and warm early spring day drinking iced coffee and eating some snacks. Tony rolled over onto his stomach and propped himself up onto his elbows to people watch. 

The quad was decently filled; a few students here and there looking over textbooks in groups. Two students were practicing fight training as another girl looked over flash cards. A boy nearby had sparkles coming out of his hands, which Tony assumed to be a spell of some sort. A couple cuddled under a large tree, and a few students were laying in the grass like Tony and Jan were, just appreciating the nice day. 

Across the quad, Tony spotted Steve on his daily run. He zoomed by, Steve’s perfect runner’s stance fading in a blur as he sped past the quad. 

“It’s a shame he runs so fast - you can’t even get a good look at his butt in those pants, he’s just a blur,” Jan said, but when Tony turned to look at her, she was looking back in his direction, not Steve’s. 

Tony blushed, having been caught staring. 

“Well I’m sure he’ll be running back around to do twenty more laps before you can finish your iced coffee, so you can get another look.” 

“Me? Yeah, right. Tony, how long are you gonna keep torturing yourself like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why can’t you just tell him how you feel? I honestly don’t get it, Tony. You’re making yourself miserable over wanting to be with him so badly - just ask him! You used to ask out girls all the time, no problem. Steve is one of if not the nicest person on this campus. He doesn’t bite! Just ask him out for a drink or something. 

“I just - I can’t - I -”

“ _Why, Tony?_ Answer me, honestly. Why are you so scared of asking him out?”

“Because I’m in love with him, okay!” Tony shouted, and turned so his back was now to the rest of the quad. He continued softly, “When I’m just asking someone out on a casual date, someone I’ve just met, when I haven’t really developed feelings for them but I just think they’re cute or cool, it’s _easy_ to say ‘hey, can I buy you a coffee?’ because there’s no stakes in it. Either they take me up on it, and we have a couple hour hang out, I get to know them a bit and maybe it leads to something, maybe it doesn’t, or they just say no and I can just let it go, no hard feelings and move onto the next person who might be interested in having a little fun.” Tony looked down and started picking at the grass.

“But with Steve? It’s not the same. I _do_ know him. He’s smart and kind and absolutely a giant dork and he’s so damn perfect but he doesn’t brag about it like I would. Being on the same team as him has actually made me a better fighter and strategist and person and he drives me nuts. I’ve dated a lot of people, been in what I thought was love a few times, but _nobody_ has had this effect on me before. No one has ever wormed their way into my heart like this - without even trying too! I am _terrified_ , Jan. I can’t get a hold of this, this bundle of feelings, it’s just so wild and delicate and it makes me feel like I’m always about to combust and I don’t know how to deal with that. And if I do ask? And he says no? Or it doesn’t work out? I - I wouldn’t -”

“- Be able to just let it go?”

“Yeah, something like that.” 

Jan offered a compassionate smile and brushed her hand through Tony’s hair sympathetically. “Oh, Tony. I know it has to feel so painful, and if you want me to drop the subject I will, but is not knowing really better than just knowing?” 

“What do you mean?”

“If you never ask, the answer is already a no. You’re answering _for_ Steve by not telling him how you feel and giving him the chance to respond. I know it has to be scary to worry about affecting your friendship, and the team, but if you’re just killing any chance you could have together before it starts, aren’t you basically in the same place you’d be in if you ask him out and it ends badly? You’re still miserable, and not seeing anybody. When’s the last time you asked someone out?”

“Uhh, I’m not even sure. Maybe Widow, to the Halloween Ball?”

“Last October? As in five months ago last October?”

“ . . . Yeah.” Tony sighed and laid back down on the grass on his stomach, burying his face in his arms. 

“What about the Valentines’ Day mixer? Didn’t you meet anyone there?”

“I danced with a few girls, and that was nice and all, but all I could think about was how cute Steve had looked. I’m doomed to just be a sappy mess forever, aren’t I?”

From the closet corner of the quad, Loki walked over to where Tony was lying down in the grass. 

“What’s wrong with him?” Loki asked to Jan, pointing at Tony.

“Hi, Loki,” Tony mumbled, face still buried.

“He’s a little lovesick.”

“Jan -” Tony started.

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Lovesick? Enchantress again?”

“No. God I wish it was that simple,” Tony responded, propping himself back on his elbows. By this time, Steve had made another lap back to the quad. Tony watched Steve run off, and Loki and Jan watched Tony. Loki looked up to see who Tony had been staring at. 

“Is this . . . is this about America Man?”

Tony sighed in confirmation.

“I was just telling Tony that it would be healthier for him to just tell Steve how he feels and get it off his chest,” Jan said.

Loki looked back Tony. “Well didn’t you once say you were ‘everybody’s perfect match?” he asked in jest, but Tony didn’t respond besides a pout and looking down at the ground. “What? No jokes? No boasting about how you’d be the perfect boyfriend or a great night out? Ooh. You really are lovesick. Ew.”

“ _Ew?_ ” Tony said, slightly offended.

“Yes, ew. I hate seeing you like this. Like the life’s been sucked right out of you. How do we fix this?” he waived his hand generally over Tony. 

“Slowly. With baby steps. You are putting so many stakes on this that it will never happen if we don’t relieve some of that pressure,” Jan said, and when Tony looked at her he could tell the gears of her brain were fully in motion. 

“How about this - go over to that side of the quad. When Steve comes back around, wave him over. It’s Steve. He’s gonna stop to go talk to you. Then just chat briefly, and say you’d like to hang out with him soon. Like maybe grab a burger and then some drinks at Club A. _Not_ a date. Just a hang out. Then see how he reacts and we can go from there. For the record, I _do_ think Steve would say yes to an actual date with you. But if you want a second opinion, Loki . . .?” Jan asked, looking at Loki.

“You want me to get a feel for his reaction? I’m the god of mischief. Yes, I’m good at knowing when people are being deceitful. Although I’m not sure America Man is _capable_ of lying, but sure, I can help you.” 

Tony sighed. Jan was right - not that Tony would ever admit it - and this would be a tiny step and a good way to maybe get a temperature on how Steve felt about him.

“Alright, fine. Let’s go.” Loki stepped aside to make room for Tony to stand up. 

Suddenly, Tony head “Watch out!!!!” from across the quad as he turned around. The last thing he remembered was a brown blur zooming in his direction, and then things going black. 

Faint sensations of being moved, picked up securely, gently placed on a table. The bright overhead lights of the Academy’s medical wing. Being poked and prodded, scans and tests. An overall wooziness as he answered questions and moved his hands and feet as requested.

And a few hours later, Tony heard a knock at the door. He looked up to see Jan, relief to finally see a friendly face. 

“Tony, how are you feeling?” Jan asked quietly, walking into the room and sitting beside his bed. 

“Like shit. They said I have to stay overnight, bad concussion. No internal bleeding or anything like that, but they want to make sure.”

“Well, that’s good. That was . . . it was really scary, Tony.”

“The doctors kept asking me for details but I honestly don’t know what to tell them. What happened?” 

“You were hit in the head with a football thrown by a robot.” 

“ _What?_ ”

“You got up to go with Loki to go talk to Steve, to get that second opinion? And from my understanding from how defensive Scott was getting: a few weeks you told him to make a robot, he and Clint made a robot that would throw footballs so they could practice going long to catch it, except Scott is better at making robots than catching footballs, and the football thrown went too fast right over Scott’s head and right into yours as you were just turning around.”

“And then what?”

“Well, you dropped immediately, Loki got pissed and charged at Scott saying he killed you, and Steve came back for another lap -”

“ _Steve saw this?_ ”

“Well no, I think you already dropped by the time he reentered the quad, but he first went to break up the fight between Loki and Scott before he noticed me hovering over you.”

Tony’s head was still pounding as he covered his face with one hand. “Oh god, then what?” 

She slightly grimaced. “Uhh -”

“ _Jan_ -”

“Steve carried you. Picked you up bridal style and ran you over to the medical wing. Said it would be a hell of a lot faster than had we waited for assistance to arrive, which is true. I ran after him, but you know there’s no way I could keep up. I think you were only out for a little over a minute. You were still pretty woozy but were already awake by the time I arrived.” 

Tony felt his stomach drop and like he was floating away, like someone had just chucked him into outer space. _Steve carried him._ _In front of dozens of other people. And ran him to the hospital._

“And where was Steve?” 

Jan shrugged. “Not here, but I think he might have gone back to the quad to chew out Scott. Widow texted me to ask what could have possibly happened to make _both_ Steve and Loki mad at the same person. Must have been making quite a scene.”

Tony sighed. “So the whole school knows about this?” 

“You know this place. You really need me to tell you that?”

Tony tried to sit up and instantly felt dizzy. Jan pushed him back down on the bed. 

“Nuh-uh. Bad concussion. You’re not going anywhere.” 

_That football should have just killed me_. 

* * *

So three attempts. Three failures. And all Tony had to show for it was a busted robot, a bad concussion, and a whole lot of embarrassment. 

Rhodey turned on the game console in Tony’s room as Jan passed the popcorn bowl to Tony, who sighed. 

“Honestly, guys I don’t think I’m gonna tell him.”

“Why?” Jan asked

“Because it kinda feels when I do try the universe is making sure I don’t.”

Rhodey rolled his eyes. “ _Oh, please_. One football-wielding robot tries to take you out and want to hide? You’re supposed to be a big brave superhero -”

Tony thought about the past couple of months since the football incident. “I just don’t think Steve is into me.”

Jan frowned. “He literally picked you up and carried you to the hospital in his arms.”

“Yeah, it’s Steve, he’s Captain America, he’d do that for anyone and everyone here.” 

Jan shook her head as Rhodey passed out controllers. 

“Don’t worry about me, Jan. I’m hopeless.”


	2. My Heart Sinks To My Feet

“You’re hopeless, Steve.” 

“What do you mean, Sam?” 

“I just don’t understand what’s so complicated about this. You like him. A lot. Why can’t you just let him know?”

“Okay, how would _you_ go about telling him?” Steve asked, brows furrowed, sitting against the wall.

“Just ‘Tony, can I take you out this weekend?’ What’s so hard about that?” Sam asked. 

“What if he says no?” 

“He’s not going to say no. He’s clearly into you.” 

“If he was he would have just asked me out to begin with. That’s what he usually does, right?”

Steve had realized he had feelings for Tony since the end of the prior school year. It started out as a little crush, innocent enough. He objectively had thought Tony was handsome from the first time that they met - but over their first school year together he found himself having passing thoughts about Tony. _He has such beautiful brown eyes. What a nice smile._ The thoughts casually grew to imagining what a date with Tony would be like - dancing, holding hands, and even their first kiss. 

He spent a lot of free time in the spring semester lying in the quad, watching Tony zoom across the sky in his Iron Man armor. Even when they started to argue about how to proceed with missions, Steve still admired how smart and creative Tony was - and he said so, which would usually result in a witty comeback or light teasing from Tony. Steve never took it to heart, having been reassured by Widow that that was just how Tony was with everybody. 

When the new school year had started, and Tony helped Steve with his campaign for student body president, they had spent a lot of time together. It further solidified Steve’s feelings for Tony, but it wasn’t until the end of the fall term that he finally brought up his crush with Sam and Bucky. 

“Tony’s a nice guy. You should ask him out.” That would be a frequent thing Steve would hear over the next few months. And he had tried. Twice. Kind of.

* * *

**Four.**

It had been the Saturday before Valentine’s Day. Jan was throwing a singles mixer at Club A. 

“C’mon. We’re going. Get dressed.” Sam dragged Steve out of the dorm and to the club, where a sizeable crowd was dancing, drinking, and flirting. 

Steve immediately felt a little out of place. A few girls sent Steve flirty smiles in his direction as they entered. 

They found a free booth and Bucky got up to grab them drinks. 

“So what’s your plan?” Sam asked.

“What plan?”

“To ask Tony out. This is a singles mixer. How are you planning on . . . mixing?”

“Oh, I wasn’t planning on asking -”

“Your lover is over by the bar with his friends,” Bucky said, as he passed out the drinks and sat back down. Steve turned around to see Tony, who was in the middle of posing for a selfie with Jan in front of the decorative display at the bar. 

“Seriously, Steve. You’re making this too complicated. Just ask if you can buy him a drink and chat him up,” Sam said.

“Oh he’s always been like this, Sam. Even in the 40’s. Enjoys going to dances and never bothers to ask anyone to dance,” Bucky said. “What? Prove me wrong.” He said after seeing Steve frown. 

“Fine.” Steve jumped up and made his way over to the bar, moving past some students and taking some deep breaths to let go of some the frustration he had with his friends before he spoke to Tony. 

“Hey, Tony,” Steve said, siding up next to him at the bar.

“Hey, Steve. I wasn’t expecting to see you here tonight,” Tony replied. He seemed a bit off - it wasn’t even a slightly warm reception Steve had been expecting to receive from Tony. But he tried not to read into it too much.

“You got a drink?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, whatever fruity house special they have tonight,” Tony said as he raised his glass to show off a pink drink with two strawberries on the rim. 

Tony nervously looked at Steve, and looked a bit uneasy. It was clear the conversation wasn’t going anywhere and Steve desperately wished he could slam an eject button to flee if he could.

“Alright, Tony. It was nice to see you. Have a nice Valentine’s Day!” Steve quickly backed away, and retreated back to Sam and Bucky. 

Steve slid back into the booth, cheeks burning bright red as Tony was pulled into a dance with a girl Steve didn’t recognize.

“Incredible,” Bucky noted.

“What tips do you have for us, Cassanova?” 

“You’ve punched Hitler and Red Skull in the face and can’t ask a guy for a drink?”

Steve sunk in his seat slightly. “Dating in the 40’s was different than it is now. And I could barely handle it then!” Steve said with a sigh. “Guys, you know what, I think I’m gonna head out -”

“Oh, Steve, don’t -”

“No seriously, Sam, it’s okay. I was planning on doing some training early tomorrow anyway. You guys have fun. I’ll see you back at the dorm.”

Steve grabbed his coat and rushed out of the club and into the chilly night air before Sam or Bucky could stop him. He quickly walked back to his room, and slammed his door behind him, sliding down and sitting on the floor. 

_Why was Tony acting so distant?_

A couple hours later Steve heard a small knock on his door. He opened it to a very apologetic Sam.

“Hey, I know we were riffing on you pretty hard back there, but it’s not to like, put you down or anything. I think you’re just being way too hard on yourself. Yes, the social scene isn’t what it was in the 40’s but I think you’re much more adjusted than you give yourself credit for. As one of your best friends, I know you pretty well, and I can safely say anyone would be lucky to have you as their significant other. I’m sorry we were being jerks, and I’m sorry things didn’t work out tonight.”

“Thanks, Sam.”

 **Five.**

After Tony’s concussion, he was forced to take it slow for a few weeks. He missed a week of classes, was only allowed limited use of technology - as little screen time as possible - and couldn’t be very active. So Tony wasn’t out on missions, couldn’t be in his lab, couldn’t fly around in his armor - and was limited in how much classwork he could do. 

“I’m really sorry, Steve. I wish I could help more,” Tony said sadly from the couch on the other side of the room. They were in Stark Tower, for their weekly study session/project time. Due to Tony’s injury, he wasn’t allowed to look at computer-generated models or use power tools or other machinery. Which made working on their armor project much more difficult. A job once equally divided, most of the work now laid on Steve’s shoulders to construct, wire and test their project. 

Steve already understood how frustrating it could be to want to help and know that medically you couldn’t. A childhood of sickness, missed playtime, and hospital visits pre-serum meant that Steve didn’t have to imagine how much Tony would be struggling right now. 

“You absolutely don’t need to apologize, Tony. You’re still helping as much as you can and I really don’t mind doing the manual work.” Both of those things were true - as temporarily restricted as Tony was, when Steve would encounter a problem he would bring it to Tony who usually had a quick fix without even needing to look at a computer screen for it. And in the meantime, Steve enjoyed learning how to solder and wire and use new tools. After a few days of building armor, Steve realized why Tony liked doing this so much. 

“You know, Tony, I used to chastise you because I thought you were too reliant on your tech, but I have to say, this is pretty satisfying, building the armor and tools you’re going to use to protect yourself in battle. This is pretty fun.”

They were almost done with the main piece of the armor - the chestplate. Its center was a ring, that functioned like a mini arc reactor, that clung onto the user’s uniform or clothing. When pressure was applied to the ring, a chainmail like armor would spread out from the center, unrolling over the user’s body. The chainmail mesh provided protection from heat damage, knife wounds and some bullets, and the ring had a trigger that could release a small energy blast when needed. The armor wouldn’t be designed to be like the Iron Man suit - it couldn’t fly, there were no sensors, etc. - but for an agent who found themselves in the need of extra protection, it would do in a pinch. 

Tony was still quiet. Steve knew this wasn’t the concussion - he had seen Tony talking normally with Jan and Rhodey just the other day - so it was clear something was off. 

Since Tony had gotten injured, it had been that much harder to hold a conversation with him. Steve couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and decided to push a little.

“So what’s going on in your life, Tony?” 

“Huh?” 

“What have you been up to while you’re recovering? I mean, besides the whole concussion thing, how’s this school year been? Build any interesting armors? Have any plans for spring break? Figured out what missions you want to work on this summer? Have you been seeing anyone?” 

“Uhh -”

“I mean you don’t have to answer any of that if you don’t want to -”

“No, no. It’s fine. Um. I mean, it hasn’t been the best semester? Classes are okay. I’ve enjoyed working on this project, I like the concept a lot. I actually haven’t been building other armors, not even because of the injury. Just no inspiration, you know? My choices for spring break are go home or stay here at this point, so I’ll probably just be spending the week at the pool in the Aquatic Park. No missions for summer yet. And no, as far as love life goes I’d describe it as a bunch of tumbleweeds rolling through a ghost town.”

They both laughed. Steve was happy to just get any answer, let alone such a playful response from Tony. So he wasn’t ready when Tony turned the questions back on him.

“Well, what about you?”

“Oh I . . . well, I like my classes this semester. Not sure what I want to take next year though. And I told you, I’ve loved working on armor and learning so much. I might be signing up for some mission in Europe for the first half of the summer, but I’m not sure. Staying here for spring break too.” Steve trailed off with a sigh. 

“And?”

“And what?”

“You seeing anyone?”

“Uh, no. I haven’t been on a date recently or . . . at all, really. Nothing since I got pulled out of the ice,” Steve confessed.

Tony sat up. “Wait, seriously? I mean no - no judgment it’s just you’re one of the most handsome guys at school, I’m just shocked no one has asked you out.”

 _You could ask me out if you wanted to_ , Steve thought. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I just haven’t made the connection with the right person yet?” Steve proposed.

He hoped he might have just opened the door to invite Tony to ask. 

But Tony grew quiet instead, looking down at the ground and not saying another word. As far as Steve was concerned, that was all the confirmation he needed to know that Tony wasn’t interested. A little tied up in his own feelings, Steve continued to work quietly until it was time to leave, and he didn’t waste any time exiting Stark Tower. 

When he returned to the dorm, Sam immediately noticed that something was wrong. Steve explained what had happened.

“I don’t - Steve, I wouldn’t read into what happened like that -”

“It’s fine, Sam. Honestly, I’m just over this being a distraction for me. Better to just move on, get over it and focus on finishing the school year, right?”


	3. Would You Let Me Know, 'Cause I Can't Read Your Mind

It was early April, and Tony had finally been cleared to resume regular classwork and screen time. He would still have to wait another week to be cleared to return for missions, but it was such a great feeling to start returning to normal. 

Director Fury called the weekly assembly on Monday morning. 

“Alright, settle down everyone. So first, a few announcements.” Fury took a piece of paper from Steve, who as Student Body President was required to sit on stage for these assemblies. “In extracurriculars news, tickets to next month’s Spring Formal go on sale this week. See Student Council Events Coordinator Wasp for more details. The Fitness Club will be doing a charity race through the obstacle course on the 6th. The outdoor pool at the Aquatic Park is now open for the season, and the Collector’s Museum now has a new exhibit on Celestial Artifacts. I believe those of you in Odin’s Relics course are required to go but I encourage you all to check it out because, well, it’s pretty neat.” A small chuckle went over the audience as Director Furry continued. 

“And finally, the installation of the new security system has been finished around campus. Many outside forces have begun to recognize the strength, power, and capabilities you all possess. It’s good to put people on notice, but that can also attract . . . challenges. Our new campus security system will provide more peace of mind as you all train and build skills. Some of the features include anti-stealth technology, reinforced walls around the campus, and motion sensors. As you know, while there is no formal curfew at the Academy, I hope these new security features may inspire some of you to use more, uh, _discretion_ in your nighttime decision-making. The security system will help us take a proactive stance to ensure safety throughout the campus, from outside threats and internal mishaps. 

However, you are all at this school to train to become heroes, protectors, and defenders of the innocent. So _I_ would not be doing my job if I allowed a security system to make you all complacent at night. So, starting Sunday, you’ll each be assigned to a patrol rotation,” Fury continued to speak as a groan rolled over the crowd. “There’s enough of you where we can do this in pairs, and a couple of pairs a night, so you’ll only have to do patrol about once a month. Assignments will usually be two older students paired with two younger ones. No, I don’t care if you already had plans. You can resell those concert tickets. Your date can reschedule. If it’s your birthday that night we’ll leave you a cupcake. The patrol assignments can only be altered if they conflict with some other academic purpose.”

Later that week, each student received an email with their assignments. Tony opened the message and quickly scanned the calendar, his eyes landing on the following Friday.

_Friday, April 12th_

_Iron Man_

_Captain America_

_Hulkling_

_Hawkeye (KB)_

He would be patrolling with Steve. Tony would get to spend an entire night patrolling with Steve! The flurry of excitement and butterflies quickly flipped into panic.

 _He’d be spending an entire night patrolling with Steve_. 

Tony missed when he first met Steve, when it was easy to deflect his feelings by teasing him. But now? His crush had gotten so bad of late, that when they didn’t have a topic to talk about, like in their study group, Tony got flustered.

And now he got to spend an entire night getting flustered with Steve. 

_Great._

Steve also opened up the message. He felt a small jolt from his heart when he saw his name under Tony’s. But he quickly tried to lower his own expectations. He still couldn’t get a feel for why Tony was acting so strangely around him. 

_You know, this might be the best chance I’ll have to ask him about it._

On Friday night, Tony and the others met Director Fury in front of the main gate to the campus. Steve had arrived first (of course), and Tony arrived around the same time Kate and Terry showed up. As this was official business, they were all in their gear. Tony flipped down the Iron Man helmet as they all lined up.

Director Fury looked over the four students and gave instructions. “Alright. To start off your patrol, the four of you should take one sweep across campus together to see how things currently are. Get a baseline. Then in pairs go around again, in opposite directions of each other. Once that is done one pair should continue to wander the perimeter of the campus, the other pair seek higher ground and engage in more advanced tactics. Decide amongst yourselves how to do that, although looking at you four I think I already know the split. Keep communicators on, don’t burn anything down, don’t _let_ anything burn down, you all have access to the campus alert systems and for the love of god do not wake me unless we are literally at war. Have I made myself clear?” 

“Yes, Director Fury,” all four students answered in unison.

“Good. Sun rises at about 5:45 AM. A chest in the guard booth has some water bottles and snacks.”

The first few passes went alright. Teddy noticed an open maintenance shed toward the back of the campus, although when they investigated there didn’t seem to be anything out of order. For the next sweep, they agreed it was best for the purpose of a learning exercise to have Steve and Tony go with one of the younger students each. As Tony passed the maintenance shed with Teddy again, it was locked as they had left it. They returned to the front of campus, grabbing the snacks as they waited for the others to return.

About ten minutes later, Steve and Kate arrived back at the security gate. 

“What took you so long?” Tony asked, opening the string cheese included in the snack bag. 

“We ran into Star Lord, Gamora and the rest of their friends, they were carrying boxes of snacks, walking out toward Groot’s Grove,” Kate replied, crossing her arms and clearly over patrol.

“Are they having some kind of party? And we’re stuck here?” Tony asked, annoyed.

“I think so? They were, uh, pretty unresponsive when we asked. Cap just gave them the look - you know the one - and they said they’d ‘stay out of our hair’.”

“Alright. I guess we’ve gone on enough sweeps for now that we can split up. Hawkeye, Hulkling, I know you two are friends. I think it’s safe to say you’d rather continue patrol together than spending the rest of night with us, right?” Steve asked.

Tony felt his stomach flip as Steve continued to talk. Both of the younger students hesitated to respond. 

“Seriously, no hard feelings if you want to ditch us for the night. I mean, stay available, but you guys can go wander campus if you want to,” Steve suggested. Tony knew Steve was doing this to be nice, but it also couldn’t help but sound like Steve was trying to ditch Kate and Teddy too.

“Really? Because -” Teddy started.

“ - That sounds great.” Kate finished. They both looked relieved, and Kate continued to speak. “That works for us, Cap. We’ll stay on the ground and you two take a higher position?”

“Sounds good. Iron Man?” Steve looked to Tony for approval. 

“Yeah, that sounds great. We can go back to Stark Tower, it’s one of the tallest buildings on campus anyway.”

Soon enough, the students went their separate ways.

“You know those two are just going to head over to Groot’s Grove and join the party, right?” Tony asked, pointing over his shoulder at Teddy and Kate as they walked away.

“Oh, I know. Figure it’s a good balance to let those two have some fun and make sure the Guardians don’t have _too_ much fun. I’m not trying to spend this weekend writing incident reports for Director Fury.” Steve smiled softly and looked back ahead, as Tony felt his stomach do a small flip. 

Tony felt like he was going to vibrate out of his skin from nerves. 

_It’s almost 2 AM. We have another three hours or so of this. You can handle three hours alone with Steve._

They continued the walk back to Stark Tower in silence, which Steve decided to break.

“So how are the weathering tests going?”

“Huh?” Tony asked, snapping to attention. 

“The weathering tests? For the armor? You said you had been doing some kind of test on it?”

“Oh! Yeah. It’s on the roof right now. Wanted to see how exposure to the elements would treat it. We could go check on it if you want?”

* * *

Steve and Tony took their perch on the roof of Stark Tower. Tony stepped out of the Iron Man suit and Steve removed the top half of his uniform, placing it and the shield by their armor project.

Steve looked around. The dotted lights across a sleepy campus gave off faint glows. What was usually a bustling school was quiet, peaceful. Between the few remaining lights and the height of Stark Tower, Steve could see many stars across the night sky. “Wow. I never realized how beautiful the view is up here at night.”

“I sit up here, sometimes. When I can’t sleep.”

“You know, if you’re ever up late, you should let me know. I wouldn’t mind going for a nighttime walk like this, and it’s always nice to have some company.”

But all Steve got was a noncommittal shrug from Tony. 

* * *

_A nighttime stroll with you sounds perfect_ , Tony wanted to say, but he just couldn’t. 

“Have I done something, Tony?”

Tony felt a pit in his stomach. “What do you mean?”

“Earlier this year it felt like we were really close - working on projects and missions together, hanging out, you even helped me run for class president. But we don’t do that anymore, not really. Not beyond the class time and work that we have to do together. You used to tease me and joke around with me a lot more. I promise that didn’t bother me - I liked it, but - it just feels like you’re holding back, I guess?” Steve confessed, as Tony’s head began to spin as he was processing what Steve was saying.

“And if you want to do that, that’s totally fine, but if there’s something I did I’d like to know so I -”

Tony reached out and grabbed Steve’s hand. “Steve, no, shit, I _promise_ it’s nothing like that at all. I - I -,” Tony stammered, feeling like the air had been punched out of him. “I promise you’ve done nothing wrong. The issue is with me.”

“Tony, what’s wrong? You can tell me anything.” Steve stared back at Tony - into Tony, and Tony felt his heart break. 

Tony had hoped he had been discreet about the distance he was trying to put between himself and Steve, but Steve had clearly noticed and was hurt by it. He hurt Steve which in turn only caused himself even more pain.

Jan was right. 

_If you never ask, the answer is already a no. You’re answering for Steve by not telling him how you feel and giving him the chance to respond. I know it has to be scary to worry about affecting your friendship, and the team, but if you’re just killing any chance you could have together before it starts, aren’t you basically in the same place you’d be in if you ask him out and it ends badly?_

“I love you. I have been in love with you for months and it’s driving me up the wall, I don’t know how to not get flustered around you. And I’ve been so scared because you’re also a really good friend and a teammate and you’re the first guy I’ve had really deep feelings for and that’s scary too and I just - I just didn’t know how to deal with all of that. It scares me and you scare me and I love you so much, and I thought if I tried to distance myself or convince myself you didn’t care then that would make it better but I hurt you instead, and I’m - I’m just so sorry, Steve.”

Tony immediately went to get up before Steve grabbed his hand to stop him. 

* * *

Steve couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He felt like a dam in his chest had burst. _Tony loved him._

“Tony, you really love me? I had no idea! I’ve had feelings for you since last year! Why didn’t you let me know?”

“I tried. A couple of times. Once I freaked out because you were so damn handsome swinging on those monkey bars, and a couple other times were, uh, interrupted by a certain pair of football fanatics.”

“That day you got injured?”

“Yeah! I was going to ask if you wanted to hang out, and then I got knocked out. And you carried me like the hero you are, and I wanted to die afterward.”

“Tony, oh god, this whole time I thought you weren’t interested in me! I wanted to ask you for a dance on Valentine’s Day but you seemed so nervous and distracted I backed off.”

“ _You_ made me nervous and distracted. I honestly didn’t think I’d be seeing you there, those mixers can be fun but sometimes they’re an awkward nightmare.”

Steve laughed and put his face in his hands. “I should change my hero name to ‘awkward nightmare’.” 

Tony giggled. 

“I mean honestly, Tony I really didn’t think you were into me. I even made an opening for you of sorts, hoping you’d take the bait and just ask me out but you didn’t.” 

“What? When?!”

“After I told you I hadn’t dated anyone since getting out of the ice.” 

“You said, ‘ _Maybe I just haven’t made the connection with the right person yet._ ’ As in, implying that everyone you currently know isn’t the right person.”

Steve paused and thought about it for a moment. “ _Oh._ Oh god. You’re right. It’s official. Let the registrar know. I’m going to go by ‘the Awkward Nightmare’ from now on.”

Tony laughed, and took Steve’s hand. “Okay, but Steve, don’t you see? I have feelings for you, you have feelings for me. None of that past awkwardness matters now.” 

Steve smiled and pulled Tony in close.

Tony looked at the beautiful color filling Steve’s cheeks as he took one hand to cup Steve’s face. Steve looked into Tony’s eyes and was absorbed by how they sparkled in the moonlight. 

Tony began to move in, and Steve slightly tilted his head, as they both moved together, lips almost touching and -

 _BOOM_.


	4. It's Hard To Stay Cool

They both paused, and turned toward the front gate of the school where smoke began to rise.

“What’s happening?” Tony asked.

“Tony, we have to get down, there’s something at the gate.” 

Tony jumped up and ran into the Iron Man armor, as Steve grabbed his gear. Tony wrapped an arm around Steve’s waist as they jumped off the roof of Stark Tower. They dropped quickly, Steve grabbing tightly onto Tony. They landed at the front gate with a heavy thud. 

“Hulkling, Hawkeye, what is your current location?” Steve shouted into the communicator as he finished putting his gear on.

“JARVIS, raise the alarm. Alert Director Fury about an incoming attack, and that all hands on deck are needed. Red alert. Iron Man and Captain America responding first right now,” Tony shouted as the security siren went off. 

“We’re at the back of the campus, by Groot’s Grove, what was that?” Tony could hear Kate shout.

“Explosion by the front gate. We’re investigating.” 

The front gate of the campus was filled with smoke and fire. Tony flew up to above the smoke to scan the area.

He picked up heat signatures of about thirty to forty people, but couldn’t see anyone.

“Tony, you got anything?”

“Heat signatures, but no visuals. Too much smoke -”

As Tony said that, a glow emitted through the smoke and a continuous beam shot out toward the campus exterior wall. Chunks of rock began to fly back toward the campus.

“Whoa! Steve, are you alright down there?”

Steve was currently covering his head with his shield as bits of rock and concrete pinged off the shield. He could hear the roar of the beam continuing to cut through the exterior walls of the campus. 

It would take several minutes to get students out of their beds and into their gear and out to the main gate, so as far as Steve saw it, right now the Academy’s main defense was Tony and himself. 

“I’m good, moving in closer to engage.” 

“Steve, wait, I can’t tell where any of the enemy are, or who they are -”

But Steve pushed forward, running into the smoke.

Tony didn’t know how to proceed. He couldn’t see his enemy, and he couldn’t even do a barrage attack because Steve was now mixed in there among the smoke. 

“Tony, there are people in here with me but I can’t see them.”

“They have to be cloaked somehow.” _What happened to Fury’s new ‘security system’_ , Tony thought. _It’s supposed to be designed to precisely decloak people, why is it doing the exact opposite -_

“Steve! I think it’s the new security system. Either it’s been disabled, or tampered with. I’m gonna go check it out.” Following his hunch, Tony zoomed along the inside of the campus wall until he found a control box. He quickly plugged his suit into it and began to hack it. 

“Okay. What do we have here?”

Meanwhile, Steve could hear footsteps surrounding him but still couldn’t see his enemies. The smoke was covering the source of the beam but it wasn’t enough to cover the ground. He should, at the very least, be able to see the legs and feet of whoever was around him.

Back at the control box, Tony was quickly sorting through security files. “Basic monitoring system, Christ Fury why not just tape camcorders to the outer walls - security logs, software - okay. Let’s see here - alarm systems, bug reports and -” Tony stopped as he pulled up the programming for what should have been the anti-cloaking system. The files pulled up designs and specs for a massive cloaking device, all detailed in the name of AIM.

“Steve, are you there? I was right, the anti-cloaking system, it’s the opposite of that, it’s what keeping them hidden. AIM hacked this somehow. I’m gonna disable it -”

“Wait, Tony -”

But before Steve could finish talking, Tony entered code needed to alter the programming for the cloaking device. Suddenly, where Steve had been standing alone in the smoke, he now found himself surrounded by AIM agents, guns raised, next to a massive tank whose beam continued to assault the campus walls. 

_Woosh_. An arrow zoomed over Steve’s head and into the chest of the AIM agent directly in front of him. The next second, a large slab of rock was hurled from behind him and crushed a few of the agents to his left. Taking the agent’s moment of hesitation, Steve raised his shield and tossed it.

Tony began to zoom back to the fight, where he could now see the figures of Hawkeye and Hulkling assisting from a distance as she continued to raise her bow and fire and he made quick use of the new piles of rubble. Tony turned and could see lights going on around campus. People were waking up, and they would have assistance soon, but not just yet. He flew in closer. “Cap, Hawkeye, Hulkling, keep those agents busy, I’ll work on a way to stop this tank.” 

But as Tony approached, two missiles shot out from the top of the tank. He quickly unibeamed each on, relieved the work on his aim had paid off, but the guns at the top of the tank made it clear there was more where that came from. 

“Okay change of plans. I can distract the tank, but I’m not sure how close I can get. How you doing down there?” Tony asked.

“Fantastic,” Steve said, catching his shield as it bounced off the fifth agent’s chest and spinning to kick a sixth agent in the gut. 

“On your six, Cap,” Hulkling said, spiking two agents into the ground. 

Finally clear for a moment, as Hulkling and Hawkeye took out the rest of the agents, Steve felt around his pocket and felt the ring from their armor project.

“Tony, you still up there?” 

“Yeah, still pulling fire from the tank. Why?” 

“I think I can take care of the tank. Keep them distracted.”

“What are you planning to do, Steve? Steve?” Tony asked, to no response. 

On the ground, Steve hooked the ring of armor onto his uniform and pressed onto it. He felt it grip on as the chain mesh began to spiral out and cover his body, going down his torso and arms. The final project would be an entire suit, but at this point in time, Tony and Steve had only been able to finish the chestpiece. It finished unfurling, with the triggers for the center ring landing in his palm.

 _Let’s see if this works._

Steve moved to the back and crawled underneath the tank, pulling his shield with him. He examined the underside of the tank as best he could. 

“Steve, where did you go? I don’t have a visual on you,” Tony said, as he continued to dodge missiles and shots from the tank. 

Steve found a weak point, a part that connected the axels to the interior of the tank.

 _Here goes nothing._ He pulled the shield over his face and let the ring pulse. He felt the ring get warm, and clicked the trigger. A big pulse of energy fired upward, hitting the interior of the tank and BOOM. The tank exploded in half on top of Steve, as he curled up further under his shield as pieces began to rain back down. 

“STEVE!” Tony screamed in horror. He hadn’t known what Steve was planning to do, but first, he couldn’t see Steve, he didn’t get a response from Steve, and then there was an explosion. The threat of missiles now gone, Tony plummeted back to the ground and frantically began to search through the rubble. 

“Steve! Steve, can you hear me? Where are you?”

When it finally seemed like the pieces of wreckage had settled, Steve pushed his shield up, forcing a heavy piece of the tank aside as he sat up, slightly dizzy. He looked over and saw Tony standing in the rubble with him.

“Steve!”

Steve pulled off his cowl and pushed a bit of rubble away from his leg as Tony ran through the wreckage to meet him. “Tony, are you alright? I-“

And before Steve could finish, Tony dropped down and threw his arms around Steve’s neck and pulled him in close, meeting Steve’s lips for a deep, tender kiss.

Tony broke away first, beginning to look and fuss over Steve. “Steve, Steve, are you okay? Are you hurt?” 

“Tony, it’s okay, I’m okay.”

“ _Don’t you ever scare me like that again_ , Steve. I thought - I thought -”

Steve cupped Tony’s face reassuringly. “Tony, I’m fine. The armor - it worked!”

Tony looked down to see Steve’s chest, a faint ring of light over the star on his uniform forming the centerpiece of the chained armor. 

“Stark! Rogers!” Director Fury shouted from a distance. He made his way through the rubble and let out a huge sigh of relief when he found Tony and Steve sitting together among the wreckage. 

“Are either of you hurt?” 

“Nothing serious, I think,” Steve responded, looking himself over. 

“Alright, look, we’ve got this from here. Go get checked out in the medical wing, and then to my office for a debrief. We’ll talk more about this then.” He then returned to the large crowd of students now forming around the gate. 

“Can you stand?” Tony asked, and helped Steve up after he nodded in the affirmative. Tony wrapped an arm around Steve’s waist as Steve put his arm over Tony’s should for support. They quietly walked out of sight, turning a corner when Tony stopped, picked up Steve bridal style. 

“Tony, what -” 

Tony quickly flew them both across campus to the medical wing, Steve hugging Tony tightly during the short trip. The trip to the medical wing was quick; only some minor bruises and cuts between the two, and a small burn on Steve’s leg that would heal quickly. 

They left the medical wing and trudged over to Director Fury’s office, with Steve taking Tony’s hand in his with an affectionate squeeze. 

They waited for awhile on a sofa outside of Fury’s office, Tony’s head on Steve’s shoulder as Steve kept his arm wrapped around Tony. They sat quietly, both facing forward. His eyes flickered around the room - filing cabinets, desks, a water cooler - and fell on a bulletin board for school events. The pink and yellow Spring Formal poster popped out against the other flyers. 

“Steve?” 

“Hmm?”

“Would you like to go with me to the Spring Formal?”

“I’d love to, Tony,” Steve replied happily. “But I’d like to think I wouldn’t have to wait the next few weeks until the formal for a date with you. Can I take you out to dinner next weekend?”

“Absolutely. That sounds great,” Tony answered, turning back to face forward and then mumbled, “that wasn’t hard at all. Huh.”

“What’s that?” 

Tony let out a small laugh. “It’s silly, thinking about now. I wanted to ask you out so badly and was too terrified to do it. Didn’t know how. But Jan would always tell me -”

“Just use your words?” Steve asked, eyebrow raised in amusement.

“Yeah, how’d you know?” 

“Got the exact same talk from Sam. Many times. Bucky too. They deserve medals for having to put up with me.”

Tony laughed and shifted in his seat, pulling Steve in for a kiss. As Tony tried to pull away, Steve pulled Tony back in with a hand on the small of Tony’s back. They continued to quietly kiss, snuggled together on the couch, until they heard an “Ahem.” 

They broke apart to see Director Fury in the doorway. “When you two are ready,” and gestured into his office. He turned and walked inside, mumbling something about “young people.”

Fury, Steve, and Tony reviewed the details of the night before. 

“So from our preliminary investigation it seems as if the installation process was compromised, which allowed AIM to tamper with the anti-cloaking system into a cloaking amplifier. Their goal was to do a surprise ambush at night. It would have been pretty successful too if you two hadn’t been so quick to respond. That beam almost made it through the campus exterior wall. I don’t want to think what could have happened had that thing been able to break its way inside.”

“Sir, next time, can you just let Tony build a new security system for us? He’s pretty great at it.” Tony sat up at this unexpected praise from Steve. It felt like a small boost in confidence he hadn’t felt in months. 

“I mean, hey, Director Fury, don’t feel too bad - those were some pretty sturdy walls you built,” Tony added, which actually got a laugh out of Fury. 

“Noted, both noted. Alright. Good job. You two get out of here. I want you both on bedrest for the rest of the weekend. Rogers, I don’t care about whatever healing abilities you may have. You had parts of a tank drop on you. You report to the medical wing for a check-up first thing Monday morning. Is that clear?” 

“Yes, Sir,” Steve responded. 

“Thank you, Director Fury.”

They left the office and walked out onto campus.

“I can order dinner for us tonight. What would you be interested in having?” 

“Aren’t we supposed to be on bedrest?”

“He said bedrest. Never said _who’s_ bed you needed to be in. And last time I checked mine is plenty big enough for the two of us. C’mon, let’s grab you a change of clothes from the dorm and we can head back to my place.”

Steve smiled, and pulled Tony in to a deep kiss. “I’d like that a lot, Tony.”

**Author's Note:**

> I’m muchmoremajestic on tumblr and vrose23 on discord!


End file.
